A library for an apartment in Brussels. The client requested a tixit bookcase in custom colors for their private library. However, considering the amount of books, and measuring the amount of running meters they would take in, one bookcase covering one wall of the room would not have been enough to store all the books. The project continued with the principle of tixit bookcases and shelves, but imagined them covering all the walls. As a pleasant coincidence, the library is not a perpendicular room. It has a wall that is shaped as a half circle and irregular window openings, doors and recesses, causing that the standard tixit bookcases could not cover the walls in a continuous way. Hence, a series of custom wooden connections have been designed. Cherry wood was chosen, referring to the many cherry trees in the area. Each connecting element has its own specific design and shape, defined by the function it would have and by the parameters of the room. The room’s distinct and whimsical shape thus determined the design. Across the room, a series of wall lamps have been installed behind the bookcases. The shelves underneath the lamps and windows are covered with mirrors, reflecting the light throughout the space. Logically, the spacing between the shelves goes from high at the bottom of the bookcases, to lower at the top; providing space for large and heavy books at the bottom and lightweight ones on the top shelves.
By following ‘the logic of building’ while developing a piece of furniture, the parameters of the existing space and the bookshelves themselves have been meticulously brought together in an architectural gesture that surrounds the user by books. The evidence of the standard material was brought in relation to the pleasure of specificity.